midas touch
by not a straight trumpet
Summary: Yuuko and Reina talk, overlooking the world.


**a/n: **i was on a train and thought "reina wants to win gold...her ambition overtakes her sometimes...Metaphor Time" and then this happened

alternate title: "I Want To Connect, But I'm A Trumpet Player So I Don't Know How To Process My Emotions In A Healthy Way"

* * *

Reina was, unofficially, Yuuko's assistant, her successor. Not her right hand, exactly - that was Natsuki's job - but someone close in that circle anyway.

Which was how they ended up sitting on a bench overlooking the entirety of Kitauji's campus, not really trying to have a conversation but not _not_ trying to have a conversation, either.

"Everyone looks tiny from up here," Yuuko said around a mouthful of sweet potato. Reina nodded, silently seeking out Kumiko and her two friends sitting a ways away. They'd decided to meet up as a bass section, today.

Reina had opted to sit alone in Kumiko's absence, but of course Yuuko had ended up here too.

Which was fine, really - she didn't like being alone nearly as much as her persona suggested.

"Guess that fits, since I'm the president and all." Yuuko talked with a sharp lilt to her voice, as if daring Reina to challenge her. "Or 'captain,' as some of the first-years say. Seems a little less scary, though. I'd say a president ranks higher than a captain." She let out a long sigh. "We're just in charge of a high school band, though. Maybe the wording doesn't matter that much."

"You're doing something, though, aren't you?" Reina surprised herself with the words. "Helping us win gold at Nationals. Leading the band in Taki-sensei's stead, providing him with support."

"Ugh, not this again." Yuuko was blunt, at least. Reina liked that. She and Kumiko made quite a pair - never really adept at keeping some things unsaid. Yuuko was more obvious about it, though. "You know it's weird, right? He's a _teacher. _Twice your age. Adult man. You are a _teenager."_

"I didn't plan on confessing in front of you, Yoshikawa-senpai," Reina retorted, voice clipped. Her chest felt tight. "There's a reason why I don't talk about this in public."

"Because it's stupid?"

"Because it's _private. _I'm not ashamed of who I am, but there are . . . lines. Boundaries."

"Really? Because right now it sounds like you're pretty damn sick of sitting perched up here with your asshole upperclassman while Oumae-chan and the others actually have 'fun.'" Yuuko turned around, then, fixed Reina with her most intense stare. "You're so obsessed with these goals that you can't see what you're missing right in front of you." Natsuki, if she were here, would say that this sounded like something out of a bad greeting card.

She would be right.

"I have to win gold," Reina mumbled. "It's the most important thing to me."

"Live a little, Kousaka-san. Have you ever heard of the story of King Midas?"

"I don't think so."

"He's this guy who's really obsessed with gold, right, so he makes a wish - I think there's a genie or something? - for everything he touches to turn into gold."

"I didn't mean literal gold-"

"And it starts out great, right? He touches boxes and hats and clothes and whatever else and it's suddenly all sparkling and golden and valuable." Yuuko let out a long, breathy sigh. She was something of a dramatic, when she wanted to be, though Reina supposed that was a necessity for how often she got her heart broken.

She had her own shields up, just like Kumiko, just like Reina herself, just like everyone.

"Except there's always a twist in these. You can't get a good thing like that and expect it to go all fine and dandy. Midas reaches out to hold his wife or someone like that and she turns to gold, just like all his things. And there's no way to reverse it. And he can't ever get close to anyone again because they'll turn into gold, too."

"Oh." Reina wasn't stupid, she knew what Yuuko was getting at, but she wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

Even if the story made her skin prickle.

"Do you understand what I'm getting at here, Kousaka-san? These goals and shit, they're important, but they're not the end of it all. Whenever I'm meeting with Natsuki for . . . president business, we always set aside a few minutes at the end to just . . . rest. Have fun. Listen to a song or whatever. I'm not saying slack off, but you'll burn yourself out like this." Yuuko's tone softened, and she pulled a blade of grass out of the ground. "You'll drive people away."

Reina's silence was often mistaken for coldness, but right then she really didn't know if she could speak.

"I'm going to go practice," Reina muttered, standing up and brushing the dirt off her skirt. She could sense Yuuko's eyes on her, even with her back turned. "I'll see you in the afternoon."

"See you, Kousaka-san."

Reina thought about the bridge between buildings where she sometimes played her trumpet, the smooth metal railing she gripped up there, how grand and lonesome it was.

She started down the hill, legs carrying her faster than she meant to, and without thinking she called out, "Kumiko!"

"Reina?" Kumiko looked up, as did Hazuki and Midori.

"Is there room for one more?"

* * *

**a/n:** also i saw the prom and it's the only broadway musical ever


End file.
